SOUTH COVENTRY — Shakeem L. Carter will stand trial in Chester County Court for the brutal Feb. 12 death of a teenager inside a North Coventry apartment, a judge ruled Thursday.

Carter, 20, of Norristown, is accused of killing Kevin Allen Jr., 17, after robbing him and then setting Allen’s body on fire to cover up his crimes.

After listening to testimony from four people during a two-hour preliminary hearing, District Judge James V. DeAngelo held most of the charges against Carter for trial in Common Pleas Court.

The first person to testify was North Coventry Police Sgt. Robert Malason, who described what he saw as he arrived at the Hanover Garden Apartments on the night of the murder.

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“I thought someone left a candle burning,” he said.

After Malason and his partner made entry into apartment 127 through the unlocked front door, he saw the blood on in the stairwell leading to the second floor and the wall.

“On the third step, I smelled smoke,” Malason said. Although it was dark in the apartment, Malason said he saw a fire burning almost 2-feet high at floor level near the kitchen.

At that point, he and his partner backed out of the apartment, called the fire department and started to evacuated surrounding apartments.

“There was no way to fight through the smoke,” Malason said.

It wasn’t until both fires were out that Allen’s body was identified as the object burning near the kitchen.

The courtroom was packed and because of the limited seating, most of the supporters of Allen’s family had to be turned away.

Allen’s mother, Jacqueline Castile and her husband were present for the hearing but only Carter’s grandfather was on the defendant’s side.

Chester County Assistant District Attorney Julie Hess presented amendments to the criminal complaint before the proceeding.

Three first degree felony charges and one second degree misdemeanor charge was added to the complaint against Carter. One charge of causing a catastrophe was withdrawn from the complaint.

Detective Tim Prouty of the North Coventry Police Department testified that he found the two knives and the two bottles of vegetable oil not far from the crime scene in the apartment complex, hidden in bushes.

Chester County Chief Fire Marshall Harrison Holt testified about the extent of the fires.

“Anybody who entered the apartment while the fire was burning was in danger,” Holt said. During the cross-examination by Carter’s attorney, Peter Jurs, Holt clarified that “an active fire produces poisonous, toxic gases and heat.”

He said that if the fires had been unchecked, they could have burned down the connected apartments.

Holt also testified that the fires were set by human hand and not by something accidental like electrical issues.

He said that Allen was found near the kitchen, face-down with burns on his back.

In his testimony, Prouty said that Carter first told police he did not know Allen but then admitted to being on SEPTA Route 29 with the victim.

The District Attorney’s office entered snapshots from SEPTA video into evidence and Prouty identified Carter as the man on the bus.

After the testimony, Jurs told the judge he believed that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the trial and the charges should be dropped, but Judge DeAngelo disagreed.

Carter’s trial now moves to the county level. His formal arraignment is scheduled for March 28 at 9:30 a.m. in the Chester County Justice Center, according to court documents.